The Entitled

source: The Entitled

A group of under-privileged kids starving for money and attention; a group of over-privileged kids starving for action and attention; a group of over-privileged adults trying to be content with their current state of life. That's "The Entitled." One group wants what the others have and the others just plain want. If you want an intelligent, thought-out thriller, you've got it. The film starts out a little pedestrian and juvenile with pointless scenes and then a few scenes continuously pointing out that our main hero was poor. But as it turns out, those scenes weren't pointless or over-done, you just had to wait until the end to figure it out. Everything contributes to the final result. Our main hero is Paul Dynan (Kevin Zegers) — broke, jobless, defeated, and almost option-less. A last ditch effort to save his mother and their house, he abducts three local rich kids, uses two misfit friends to torture them, and tries to get money out of their fathers. The brilliant aspects of this film which they did so well were the different relationship dynamics. The group of rich, entitled kids consisted of two males and one female. One couple but all three were friends. The group of poor, angry kids was exactly the same (just minus the money). The three fathers had the same relationships that their kids had, just a taller, older version. Continuing in the vein of brilliant relationship dynamics, the plot of the kidnapping was propelled forward by how everybody acted within their own group. Apparently the key to a successful crime (or not successful) is knowing how all the individuals will act. The key to a successful crime thriller is making sure that your characters act in interesting ways. The lead acting was very impressive, just as I was frequently in awe of how impressively smart the turns were in this thriller, I was amazed by how natural and creepy Zegers could be. Ray Liotta and the two other actors playing the fathers were equally as arresting. The minor actors couldn't overcome the sometimes awkward and painful dialogue. Now don't get me wrong, the screenplay by William Morrisey is actually pretty good story-wise, he just doesn't give a good voice to the over-privileged, entitled rich kids. But then again, who does? I still think the opening sequences could have been tightened up to help me realize how important they actually are to the story. But above all else, "The Entitled" made me think and I like watching films about some characters who do think and some characters who don't think. And I'll let you figure out which groups they belong to.

Overall the plot was quite interesting with numerous twists thrown in to keep you attentive. The characters were well portrayed and the acting was where it needed to be. Though there were a few scenes where emotions came across as forced (this could be my harsh critical view over-bearing). The storyline was well paced and I didn't feel bored at any point apart from a few noticeable errors in the continuity which put me off slightly. The small discrepancies in the storyline that, been explained or left out, would have made the film at least a 7/10. The protagonist (Kevin Zegers) for me was the star of the film. The character was believable and engaging and along with the narration, provided a great deal of insight into the mind of someone on a mission.

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning Kevin Zegers (Paul Dynan) is a young college student, whose mother is facing eviction from her home after the bank foreclosed on it. He teams up with two other young people and kidnaps the kids of three wealthy men, hoping to extort a ransom. Naturally, things don't go to plan. It's a bit of a lottery these days, which film projects are finding their way to the big screen and which seem to just fall by the wayside and wind up as mere fodder, on a one way course to the bargain bin. Although it had the potential to be turned into a far bigger budget film, this is the direction The Entitled appears to have been thrown. Which is a shame, for although it begins a little tepidly, it soon develops into a genuinely tense, if a little flawed, piece of work. Although the set up is entirely plausible, and an interesting concept to launch on, early on the script suffers from some improbable scenes here and there, which send it down the pan a bit. Yet somehow, as it develops, it does create a genuine air of suspense and excitement about how things are going to work out, and as apparently clear cut characters receive surprise revelations in the script that make them appear not as they seemed. Somehow, by not playing out exactly as you thought it would, it still keeps you hooked and gripped to the end, even as the end outcome REALLY becomes a lot to take in. ***